From Istanbul, Turkey, the 2010 World Basketball Championships thread- Congratulations World Champion USA!

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From Istanbul, Turkey, the 2010 World Basketball Championships thread- Congratulations World Champion USA!

Here's the roster breakdown for the NBA fan:

Group A

Angola

FIBA World Ranking: 12th

NBA alums: none

Description: The kings of Africa, Angola is that small-conference team that dominates terrible competition and then gets steamrolled when they're invited to dance with the big boys. They have a great system, they are routinely the smallest team in the entire tournament, but they play with a lot of heart. That and a 50 cents will get you a bag of Doritos at the world championships. A really, really small bag.

Description: One of the very few countries that can claim to be rivals of team USA, Argentina became the first country to defeat a team of NBA players in 2002, and then became the first (and only) country to defeat them twice in 2004, en route to their high point of Olympic Gold. These days, Argentina generally gets by on reputation, as they are older, slower, and ravaged by injuries. Overlook them at your own peril though, because they know how to win and nobody has more big game experience.

NBA comparison:

Australia

FIBA World Ranking: 11th

NBA alums:

C: David Andersen (Raptors)
PG: Patrick Mills (Blazers)

Description: The perennial underdogs of the tournament, Australia loves to run and utilize the 3-point line. That typically gets exposed in the WBC, where the pace is slower and open shots are hard to come by. They almost never win anything, but they generally have fun trying, and are easy to root for.

NBA comparison:

Germany

FIBA World Ranking: 7th

NBA alums:

C: Tibor Pleiss (Thunder-drafted)

Description: A one-man army that lost its general. Formerly one of the world's most dangerous teams, they still have some decent players left, but are largely toothless without the best player on their continent.

NBA comparison:

Jordan

FIBA World Ranking: 37th

NBA alums: none

Description: Here's a sentence you never thought you'd read: Jordan is bad. Really, really bad. A historical doormat that's just happy to be here for the first time ever, they got past rival Lebanon at the last second to scrape out a 3rd-place finish in Asia. They finally have some decent players and legit size, but aren't fun enough to be lovable, and not good enough to matter otherwise.

Description: One of the international pioneers of basketball, Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia) fittingly became the first country to eliminate team USA from the medal round in the dream team era in 2002, on the way to their 5th world championship, the most of any country. After bottoming out half a decade ago, they scrapped the old guard, and the new guard is way ahead of schedule. A group of talented, yet hot-headed players whose youth is both their biggest strength and their biggest weakness. They lack the surgical grace of their predecessors, but on any given day, they can compete with anybody.

Description: That talented team that looks like a monster on paper....until the ball gets tossed. The chronic underachiever of the international scene, Brazil has never been capable of maximizing their vast talent pool, and generally ends every big tournament flat on their faces. They haven't had a great team since the late 50's, and nobody outside of Brazil even remembers. Also, Oscar Schmidt doubles as the South American Dominique Wilkins.

NBA comparison:

Croatia

FIBA world ranking: 15th

NBA alums:

SG: Zoran Plananic (Nets)
C: Ante Tomic (Jazz)
PG: Roko Ukic (Bucks)

Description: Their heyday came a decade ago, which unfortunately put them in the path of some of the best basketball teams in history. The only European country that can honestly say they miss basketball's glory days of the 90's. Even in a down decade, they are pretty good, but Toni Kucoc is not walking through that door. Drazen Petrovic is not walking through that door. Dino Raja is not walking through that door...you get the idea.

NBA comparison:

Iran

FIBA World Ranking: 21st

NBA alums:

C: Hamed Haddadi (Grizzlies)

Description: Relatively new to the scene of international basketball, Iran is learning very quickly. They've already surpassed China as the premier team in Asia, and after going 0-5 in the 2008 Olympics, look like they might win a game or two this go-around. A big, young team that might be ready to compete with better competition sooner than people think.

NBA comparison:

Tunisia

FIBA World Ranking: 43rd

NBA alums: none

Description: The Lowest-ranked team in this tournament, Tunisia is a poor man's Angola, which is like calling a division III team a poor man's division II team. Like Jordan, they're just happy to be in this competition. On paper they have athletes and have legit international size, but neither one has helped them beat Angola, and Angola is the least of their worries now.

Description: Slovenia has had a lot of recent success copying the Lithuanian model for growing a basketball program. Unlike Lithuania, they have not had matching success. They started out small, but have slowly gotten better every year, and this may be their best team ever. A well-rounded perimeter team that badly needs to taste some success in order to be recognized as an international power.

Description: The undisputed bullies on the block. They were unbeatable once, fell off for a brief period, and are now back on top again. They field a deeper roster than anyone, play faster than anyone, and generally overwhelm you on talent alone. Their low points would double as high points for most other countries, and their down cycles are almost criminally short, as they re-load faster than anybody. Their presence alone does not guarentee victory anymore, but they never go into a game as underdogs. Beating them just once is a feather in any country's cap.

Re: From Istanbul, Turkey, the 2010 World Basketball Championships thread

Serbian player Nenad Krstic is suspended with immediate effect for three games in main official FIBA competition which include the World Championships, Olympics and Continental Championships. The player is also fined a total of CHF 45,000.

His teammate, Milos Teodosic, is also suspended with immediate effect for two games in main official FIBA competitions.

The Serbian Basketball federation will be fined a total of CHF 20,000.

Greek players Antonis Fotsis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis are suspended with immediate effect for two games in main official FIBA competitions.

Re: From Istanbul, Turkey, the 2010 World Basketball Championships thread

Group C

China

FIBA World Ranking: 9th

NBA alums:

C: Zhizhi Wang (Heat)
PF: Jianlian Yi (Wizards)
SG: Yue Sun (Lakers)

Description: What more can you say about China? Once the hottest name in international basketball, lack of results have grounded expectations for a team that was once the talk of the world. A team that loves to stock up talented big men, yet never seems to take proper advantage of them. They still love to tell anybody that will listen how good they are, but we've heard that before.

NBA comparison:

Ivory Coast

FIBA World Ranking: 41st

NBA alums: none

Description: A team historically high on athleticism but low on size, the Ivory Coast has been the little team that could in Africa for decades. They were good in the 80's and largely forgotten for the following two decades, but are now back and given the long odds they've overcome already, should be taken seriously by mid-level teams who would otherwise overlook African countries.

Description: Greece is the country whose whole is almost always greater than the sum of its parts. They not and have never had an elite international alpha dog, yet they are always right there with the very best, because they excel at halfcourt offense and play fantastic physical defense. That "boring" team everybody dislikes but nobody wants to play, they reached their summit in the middle of this decade by winning the European championship in 2005, and followed that up by schooling an absurdly-talented team USA in the 2006 WBC semifinals, en route to a silver medal.

Description: The 2007 European champs have otherwise had relatively little success over the past decade, and their go-to guy (Andrei Kirilinko) is no longer with them. Russia remains team of impressive role players in dire need of a leader to galvanize them. Timofey Mozgov leads one of the biggest and most athletic frontlines in this competition.

Description: They generally have more weapons than you initially thought, but always seem to finish where you figured they would to begin with. The energetic upstarts of world competition, they're known mostly for humiliating the US on the Olympic stage in 2004. The established 4th banana in their conference after USA, Argentina and Brazil, Puerto Rico is one of the more entertaining teams, and feature enough weapons to fell any giant, but in the end they can't quite get over the hump.

Description: A middle-of-the-pack country whose biggest accomplishment in 2010 will probably be the first time they take their home floor as hosts of the 2010 WBC. Not having Mehmet Okur probably costs them a real shot at medaling, but Hedo Turkoglu keeps them in every game. A scrappy team built on hustle and led by one superstar, Turkey may have one more accomplishment in them, if they can get some momentum going.

NBA comparison:

Group D

Canada

FIBA World Ranking: 19th

NBA alums:

C: Joel Anthony (Heat)
SG: Andy Rautins (Knicks-drafted)

Description: Ironically, they were victimized by the success of their own countryman, Steve Nash. His success and deep playoff runs have left him largely unavailable for the national team, which has suffered greatly without him. They've finally managed to farm a decent team and have had some limited success without Nash, but haven't been taken seriously in FIBA play since the late 30's, or at least it seems that way.

Description: Yet another deep and talented roster taken apart by the injury bug. France is the hard-luck team of world competition. They field deep, talented rosters every year, play well as a unit, but ultimately succumb to tougher, more battle-tested opponents. France will not have the luxury of a roster lined with elite talent this time around, but that ironically might be the wake-up-call it needs to make its first real run at a title. Diaw's many talents make him a perfect fit for this team.

NBA comparison:

Lebanon

FIBA World Ranking: 24th

NBA alums:

PF: Jackson Vroman (Hornets)
C: Matt Frejie (Wizards)

Description: The 2nd best team in Asia until the rise of Iran, Lebanon made big strides the last time they were here, beating France in the 2006 WBC and nearly qualifying for the playoffs. Perhaps the best player in their country's history, power forward Fadi El Khatib, is still there and that makes them dangerous yet again. Khatib gives Lebanon a personality and a veteran star, which alone makes them more dangerous than any of the other have-nots. They could sneak into the playoffs and nobody would be surprised.

Description: The comically-small country with a passionate following, they legitimately love the game as if they invented it themselves. After enjoying an extraordinary run of success, beating teams with deeper talent pools and far superior resources (including team USA), they've finally fallen off a bit recently, but remain a team you can't overlook. A team with a historical flare for the dramatic that's had more success than most, but hasn't been able to win the big one.

NBA comparison:

New Zealand

FIBA World Ranking: 13th

NBA alums:

PG: Kirk Penney (Clippers)

Description: Australia's warrior-esque doppelganger, and the only country on Earth that can get away with nicknaming themselves "The Tall Blacks," (derivative of their rubgy team, the "All Blacks") and get away with it. Ironically, New Zealand isn't all that tall, nor is it all that black. What they are is a team of scrappy, athletic floor-burners, that have surpassed the Aussies as the top dog in the Oceanic region. They might not win the game, but they'd compete pretty well in a street fight in the parking lot.

Description: Spain is the biggest threat to team USA in this tournament. Ironically, Spain's best chance to repeat as world champions might be if someone else gets to the Americans before they do. Spain plays the closest style to team USA of any team perhaps in the history of international play, and so they generally play right into the hands of the quicker, more athletic USA teams that love to go up and down the floor even more than Spain does. Spain did beat team USA in 2002, but in the last eight years haven't been able to solve them, including crushing elimination defeats in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, their only losses of either tourney. Their one world championship came in 2006, when Greece did them the favor of knocking off team USA in the semifinals.

Re: From Istanbul, Turkey, the 2010 World Basketball Championships thread

Motiejunas (for whatever reason) isn't playing, nor is Vesley.

USA is definitely the favorite, with Spain and Greece as the main challengers.

The dark horses are the usual suspects: Puerto Rico and Brazil. Argentina may or may not be on this list depending if Nocioni plays.

Lithuania, Turkey, France and Slovenia are all fun teams that aren't likely to make much noise.

The projected final 4 is probably a repeat of 2006: USA, Spain, Argentina and Greece.

Among the teams without a lot of NBA talent, Serbia is the one to watch, suspensions aside. They went with the youth movement a while back, and it's been paying off for them. They play in a very weak group as well, so they might actually make a serious run at a medal if the chips fall right.

Re: From Istanbul, Turkey, the 2010 World Basketball Championships thread

Don't think you will see Vesely's team in world championships or olympics any time soon, Czech's are in the lowest division, now fighting to move up, so next time they can try qualifying for Eurobasket. Jerebko is absolutely dominating that tournament.

Re: From Istanbul, Turkey, the 2010 World Basketball Championships thread

Group A:
Argentina and Serbia are the favourites to win the group and one of them will take the 1st spot. Jordan has no chance to progress. Angola, Germany and Australia will fight for the two remaining spots but none them will go far in the knock-out stage.

Group B:
USA will win it, Brazil, Slovenia and Croatia will advance, Iran and Tunisia are also-rans.

Group C:
Greece or Turkey to win, Russia and Puerto Rico will also advance, China and Ivory Coast won't have a chance.

Group D:
Spain wins. Lithuania will likely advance. France, New Zealand, Lebanon and Canada are somewhat close - I wouldn't be surprised to see the anglo teams going through, I was impressed with New Zealand's preparation games.

K-Stat, some updates in the NBA alums lists: Nocioni is out of the Argentinian squad (injury). Federico Kammerichs was drafted by the Blazers a few years back. Tibor Pleiss (Germany) was an OKC pick in last draft. Serbia will feature Nemanja Bjelica, a Wolves draft pick. Jackson Vroman will be playing for Lebanon. Marcus Vinicius (Brazil) played for the Hornets a couple of years ago.